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Mixer/PA help?

O

o_O

Jul 17, 2006
8
0
#1
I've been playing with a band for a while now, but I've been using the guitarist's old 60W Crate combo. It's ok, but if he cranks up his amp (120W) too much, it drowns it out, and if it's too low, you don't hear enough guitar :hmm:. So, I've been thinking of buying a mixer and plugging the bass and mics into it. I have two 120W Acoustic monitors that sound great, and also a huge Pioneer subwoofer, the kind for car stereos. All three work fine, just the subwoofer needs a little wiring touch-up.

The question is though, if I buy a cheap mixer ($200 and below), will it be enough bass and vocals without being drowned out by guitar? And any recommendations?

I'm not new to the bass, but I do need some help with these things.
 
#2
Oh man, if you were to ask:

"What amp do I need?" and not give any other information, no one would be much help to you. Asking about P.A's isn't any different.

I take it your asking if 'that' kind of PA would be good enough for bass, and vocals? Well, bass takes a lot of lows, vocals not as much energy but a pretty broad spectrum in their own right. Basically you're look for a full range system. At lower volumes, It might do you ok. It will make noise, but only you will be able to determine if it will work for you or not. My guess it would be better than nothing, but probably not enough. Again, the post was pretty vague but that's my humble opinion.
 
#3
Hm, another thing is that you didn't specify a powered mixer. That would be a mixer with a PA amp built in. You need both parts, a mixer and a PA amp. Yes, there are a lot of combination units out there. I know Yamaha makes a couple of models that are workhorses, inexpensive, and fairly popular for small garage bands and cafe-size venues.

But check it out- you say you are playing bass through a 60W amp, and the guitarist is cranking a 120W amp??? That's just wrong. It's illogical and unethical, and you can tell your guitarist I said so. :D

What I would honestly recommend is getting one of those combo PA/mixers (at least 300W) for you and the mics, AND telling your guitarist he is no longer allowed to bring the 120W amp to the jam session. Seriously.
 
#5
What is the rest of the band playing through at rehearsal? I would recommend getting something that everyone can run into and get a decent reheasal mix out of. Any decent box mixer from Peavey, Yamaha or SoundCraft will do.

If you are on a budget. Soundcraft Gigrack 600 or 1000. Decent power, not too expensive and easy to transport. They are great for small practice spaces. The 600 is all mono and the 1000 is a true stereo mixer. In rehearsal and in 90% of live applications stereo isn't needed.

I have a Gigrack 600 and a 1000 and I'm very happy with them.
 
#6
First off, thanks for the help.

Well, I just asked some advice because the guitarist (Joey) was thinking about buying a PA and I read around some magazines and the other forums and I found a lot of people playing through thhe PA. But if it's going to make too much noise at higher volumes, then I don't know if my setup will work that well. I've got them wired through a little practice amp though, and it's alright.

The drummer doesn't play hard at all, though, He said he hasn't broken a pair of sticks, and he's been playing on a full size set about 3 years.

The guitarist might have to turn down, just a little, but his volume is only on about 4. On clean though, the bass sounds perfect with him on the 60W. Those powered mixers sound good for both mics and bass though, so if the band chips in, we might be able to get one if it's maybe around $300 or $400.

If we can't find one that's worth the price, I'm gonna go out and probably buy a cheapo mixer and see how that works out. Like Pako said, better than nothin. We just need stuff for small shows and rehearsals, for mostly rock, metal, and funk.

Any other advice is appreciated.
 
#8
I was shopping a PA pretty hard last year. I found a
discontinued Alesis 600 watt powered mixer for 199.

I think you would have to look in the used market to
get someting in that price range.

I picked up 2 Mackie 15" subs used for 500, probably more than you had in mind.

Typically around here the opinion seems to be that the
optimum bass wattage should be about 3x what your
guitarists are working with. You might consider upgrading
your gear before you move into the PA addition.

I have seen some very 3-400 watt rigs lately in TB classifieds
for around 400 or so. One guy last week sold a Eden WT-300
for 400 which is a killer head.

I just think that with a rig that size you are pretty
underpowered, especially since your guitard is not some
tasty jazz guy who has it all under control.

Just my .02. YMMV.
 
#11
o_O said:
This might be kindof off-topic, but would regular monitors hook up to an amp head?

I hope I didn't make myself look stupid.
Click to expand...

Ask away. Assumptions are stupid, questions aren't.

I will reiterate the Pako question, please define your question
more carefully. Are you asking about a 'stage monitor' or
a 'PA speaker'? What type of head are you referring to?
 
#13
o_O said:
1.) Stage monitor
2.) A regular bass amp head
Click to expand...

Depends on the Stage monitor. It's probably not so much an issue of power or compatibility from the bass head as it is more so an issue of bass frequencies going to a stage monitor that probably isn't designed for full range sound reinforcement. Chances are the speakers will fart out and tweeters will more than likely blow unless they are really good monitors designed for full range. The above is also true if you are feeding bass/kick/etc signals routed from the PA to the monitors as well. I've had large production monitor guys tell me they can't put bass or kick in the monitor because of this. (no excuse for a large production, but anyways...that's for a different rant). Point being, even guys with fairly equipped monitor rigs will discourage bass/kick in monitors.

So, if the load or impedance matches, and the connections match, then yes you can hook up monitors to your bass head. What it will sound like is a different story.
 
#14
Cool, the 2 Acoustic monitors probably won't work how I expect them, but the subwoffer is meant for bass, so it might work well.

Going back to the powered mixers, I was searching around on eBay and found this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SOUNDCRAFT-GIGR...oryZ3278QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's a Gigrack 300, and I know srxplayer mentioned the 600 and 1000.

300 watts. Good enough for most small venues?
 
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#15
Depends on the genre of music, and again whether you can get your guitarist to stay under control. If he complains that he needs to turn his amp up to get "his tone", then he def needs like a 15 to 30 W amp instead. That would alow him to crank it for tone without overpowering the rest of you.
if the guitarist is under control, and the drummer is under control, then a 300W PA should be sufficient (IMO) for any cafe or small bar.
 
#16
bongomania said:
Depends on the genre of music, and again whether you can get your guitarist to stay under control. If he complains that he needs to turn his amp up to get "his tone", then he def needs like a 15 to 30 W amp instead. That would alow him to crank it for tone without overpowering the rest of you.
if the guitarist is under control, and the drummer is under control, then a 300W PA should be sufficient (IMO) for any cafe or small bar.
Click to expand...

+1 Especially if you are just using the PA for vocals, and mix the band's stage volume to the volume of the vocals.

Later, if you add a powered sub with a crossover built into it, then you might consider putting in bass, kick, a little guitar and drums....
 
#17
o_O said:
Cool, the 2 Acoustic monitors probably won't work how I expect them, but the subwoffer is meant for bass, so it might work well.

Going back to the powered mixers, I was searching around on eBay and found this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SOUNDCRAFT-GIGR...oryZ3278QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's a Gigrack 300, and I know srxplayer mentioned the 600 and 1000.

300 watts. Good enough for most small venues?
Click to expand...

It will be fine for small venues as long as your not asking it to carry all of the bass and you keep the drums out of it completely. Bass and the kick drumm will suck up a lot of the available power. Over all it should be fine.
 
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
#19
What is the ohm ratings for the monitors? If they are 8 ohm you will only be putting about 150-160 watts into them. If they are 4 ohm you will be putting more than twice the wattage they are rated for. You will need to listen for distortion at medium to higher volume levels and make sure you don't push them too hard for fear of doing damage to the voice coils. If you are careful than you should be ok. If you find that they are distorting before you can get to a volume level that you need than you must consider some different speakers.
 
#20
My speakers are 8 ohm, should be fine.

Now I have a problem with my unreasonable guitarist, he wants to get that portable Fender Passport 150 (or P150, idk), bcause he doesn't want to carry all the crap around and he thinks 150 watts will be sufficient. And its $600! I guess now money's not a problem because he's paying for it all...
If he decides to get that one, I'll just buy a sufficient amp head. In the meantime, I'll try to convince him.
 

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